Carbon dioxide balance and cost analysis for different scenarios of solid waste management

The final destination of municipal solid wastes requires the realization and localization on the territory of important industrial plants (separation plants, WtE systems, final landfills, and also other innovative solutions, like digesters or gasifiers), with important aspects of cost; it is also required a careful consideration about the effects of externality, chiefly as concerns carbon balance, with reference to GHG production. Taking into account the necessity to define the choice for the rational individuation of the most correct waste management system, in the present work we evaluated a specific Italian case, relative to the waste management for a city located in Piedmont (North Italy): it is important to consider that the amount of wastes that are produced in this city corresponds to about 540.000 t/y. For the correct management of this load we considered different scenarios, by introducing thermal structures (direct incineration and gasification plants) and other complementary systems (mechanical separation plants, anaerobic digesters). The alternative scenarios have been carefully studied and compared from the environmental and economic point of view, in order to obtain suitable choice criteria. The results of the specific case analysis clearly indicate the environmental and economic convenience of the solution based on the direct incineration.